Scenting a Grimm
by Belladonna-Veilsin
Summary: Set after Episode 9:Now that it's official,Nick wants to be sure Eddie doesn't get hurt he rooms with the blutbad,not knowing what effect he has on Eddie,and Eddie has to cope with Nick and his scent in Eddie's house. And Nick smells amazing.
1. Chapter 1

**EddieXNick Because let's admit it, it's effing adorable. And hot, which surprised me a little at first.**

(-)

Official. He had officially joined Nick. He'd gotten threatened, beat up, and then he knew he wanted to stay with Nick. He had never wanted so much in his life to prove himself. Nick trusted him. Nick continually put his faith in Eddie, time and time again.

Of course, Nick was currently insisting on patching Eddie up, and his gentle hands trying to soothe Eddie's pain as Eddie lay docilely on the couch just reinforced the idea that he had made the right decision. Nick wasn't a normal Grimm. He wasn't like the figures of childhood nightmare that haunted Eddie well into adulthood.

Nick _talked_. Nick reasoned. He might threaten and hurt, maybe even kill, but only when absolutely necessary. Nick didn't want to kill them. He wanted to help them adjust, to fit in and be happy in the modern world. Nick was beautiful.

His eyes widened as that last thought crossed his mind, unbidden. Nick saw. "What are you thinking about?"

"Terrifying things." Eddie murmured, trying to quiet the sudden tumult in his head.

Nick dabbed iodine on a shallow cut in a bruise on his face, and Eddie let out a quiet growl. Nick didn't falter. "What's so scary? The Reapers?"

"Some things are scarier." Eddie said, feeling warm under Nick's scrutiny.

"Well, it won't matter. You're risking a lot for me, you've given up a lot for me, and I haven't forgotten. We're partners. I got your back." Nick assured him.

Warmth blossomed in Eddie, an uncomfortable warmth when he was this close to Nick. "What made you trust me so much after we met?"

"Instincts. Aunt Marie said to trust my instincts. After you leaped out the window and tackled me, then invited me in for a beer, I instinctually knew you were no threat to me. That you were a good person." Nick said, giving him a smile that made Eddie want to melt into a puddle of goo.

"I attack you and you consider me harmless. Grimm instincts are going downhill." Eddie said with a snort.

"But I wasn't wrong, was I?" Nick asked, a tone of haughty superiority put into the words.

"No. But if your instincts start telling you that about other natural predators, Grimms will be going the way of the dodo."

"_You're_ special, Eddie." Nick said. He finished disinfecting a long cut on Eddie's arm and started wrapping it.

Eddie inhaled sharply as he felt something go through him that should _**NOT**_ be going through him, not for a Grimm. "Too tight?" Nick asked, thinking his bandage had hurt Eddie.

"No. Feels fine." Eddie breathed shallowly in an attempt to not get any more of Nick's scent into his addled head. Because Nick's scent had become suddenly intoxicating, like a door to a room full of blood and booze had been opened in his head. Nick had always smelled very good, but it was like someone had just cranked the volume for Eddie's nose.

"You know, I worry about you being here alone now, Eddie. Even if I come visit a lot, I won't be here all the time. What if someone comes to get you when I'm not here?" Nick asked. Mistaking Eddie's intense look for indignation, he added, "Not that you can't protect yourself, but you're hurt right now, and I'd prefer to back you up anyway, just in case."

"Well what would you suggest?"

"You come stay with me. Or I could come stay here." Nick shrugged.

Eddie stilled completely as his heart rate shot through the roof. "Wouldn't your girlfriend have an issue with that?"

Nick's face became troubled. "She left. A little while ago. We had a talk and she didn't like the fact that I scare the bejeezus out of these _seemingly_ random people. She thinks I'm a dirty cop or have an illegal side job. She said she wanted no part of it and packed her things and left."

Eddie slumped as he saw the sadness on Nick's face. Nick was lonely. That was another reason he was suggesting this arrangement. "Well, Grimms often live a lonely life because of what they do. But hell, you're welcome here for as long as you want."

Nick gave him a small half-smile. "That would be great, Eddie."

"Are you going to stay tonight, or should I expect you tomorrow?"

Nick looked thoughtful. "I think I'll pack my stuff tonight and come over in the morning."

Eddie nodded. "That sounds good. I should probably go to sleep early tonight anyway."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Nick said, and he got up and moved to the door.

"Night, Nick."

(-)

And Nick did show up early the next morning with two suitcases and a gym bag full of weapons. Eddie felt a bit awkward as he helped Nick with his things. He tried not to think about how, right after Nick left, he had to go take a shower in hopes of calming down, which only ended with him frantically humping his hand and climaxing with Nick's name on his lips. This was so wrong. God, he was fine with helping the Grimm, even befriending the Grimm, but he couldn't let himself fall in love with the Grimm!

And it wasn't about pride or shame, or the fact that his family would disown him...further. It was the fact that Nick wouldn't reciprocate. He had had Juliet, so it was pretty safe to assume that he didn't swing that way with human guys. Let alone with a male blutbad.

"Hey, Eddie?" Nick asked, stirring the blutbad from his reverie. "Is this going to be okay? I mean, this is your territory, and I'm a Grimm, and I don't know what that means about my scent or..."

"As far as territory goes, don't start pissing on my fence and we'll be fine. The scent thing is something I'll have to adjust to. It's just a different problem than you might think." Eddie told him.

"How so?" Nick asked.

Eddie felt warm. "It's kinda personal."

"Oh. Okay." Nick said. "Am I crashing on the couch?"

"There's a guestroom right next to my room. It should be big enough. Unless you'd prefer the couch."

"No, a bed sounds much nicer." Nick said. Eddie led him up the stairs to the bedrooms. "About the scent thing, is there anything I should do or not do that would help you adjust?"

'Stop smelling like someone turned beauty and joy into a cologne?' Eddie thought darkly.

"Look, I suppose it's best to get this out of the way now. My house is going to start smelling like you. I'll adjust. But because your scent will be part of my territory and my house, I'll have feelings of possessiveness towards you. I'll try to claim you and I'll probably run off any girls you bring home. So don't bring girls home. Other than that..." Eddie trailed off lightly, trying to underscore his previous words.

He risked meeting Nick's eyes as they arrived in the guest room, and the Grimm was blushing. Those grey eyes were wide, and Eddie wanted to say the pupils were larger than normal. "Don't bring home dates, check." Nick said, somewhat shakily. "And, well, I came straight here when I woke up...could I shower?"

Eddie groaned internally. Nick had just got here and the first thing he wanted to do was take his clothes off? Not in front of Eddie, sure, but Eddie would know. "Yeah, my room is to the right, bathroom is to the left across the hall."

"Thanks." Nick said, and he quickly shifted through one of his suitcases for clothes. He grabbed some and then went to find the bathroom Eddie had directed him to.

The delicious scent trail he left behind him had Eddie nearly panting. God, he smelled so sweet, so good, so utterly enticing that Eddie knew his rigorous lifestyle was going to be put to a _very_ strenuous test.

(-)

**Sorry about the short chapter. Hopefully more in the next update! (If it happens.)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just gotta say, thanks for the reviews, they shocked me (at their speed and number) and encouraged me (hence the new chapter). I love being in a populated fandom. (Not necessarily popular, but that doesn't hurt...usually.)**

**Oh, also, sorry about the title change and any ensuing confusion. With how this chapter and my plans were going, it felt much more appropriate.**

(-)

That smell: like someone had given sunshine a dark and musky undertone mixed with something strong that shot through his senses like a jolt of electricity. Eddie was sitting in his room trying to gather and calm himself, and that heady scent slipped in and slapped him in the face and tried to wrest his control away.

What was Nick _doing_ in there? Eddie had a few ideas, but none of them were remotely helpful. In fact, contemplating reasons made the situation worse. Eddie growled a bit as he got up. Against his will, he moved towards the bathroom. Once he got closer, he heard restrained noises of pleasure. God, Nick was jacking off. In Eddie's shower.

Why? He had to know, or at least suspect that Eddie would smell it, wouldn't he? Or was he hoping the water would dull it? Speaking of which, why wasn't the water helping to mitigate the scent? _Fuck!_

Eddie knocked on the door. "Nick?"

A short gasping subdued cry came from Nick, and Eddie shuddered and felt himself starting to shift. "Um, is something wrong?" Eddie asked, painfully aware that there was relatively little separating him and Nick. A door and shower curtain. Even if Nick had locked the door (which Eddie was guessing he hadn't, due to his current display of lack of sense) he would have no trouble breaking the lock, or even the door. A shower curtain was a laughable obstacle, not really deserving of the name.

"No, just...early in the morning. Getting things taken care of to get ready." Nick replied, sounding distinctly embarrassed.

"Of course, just...very distracting." Eddie said, feeling equally uncomfortable as Nick sounded.

There was a pause where Nick just panted so quietly any human would have missed it. "Should I stop?"

Eddie groaned, loud enough for Nick to hear. "No, you um...finish up, I'll be downstairs."

He didn't wait for a reply, just headed downstairs in a hurry. He went out the door to his yard, and he quickly opened his vice-like pants and relieved himself almost embarrassingly swiftly against his fence. He didn't care that any other blutbaden who might pass by would know from the scent that he was having a mating crisis. He just didn't want Nick to know, or see, what he did to Eddie.

He couldn't scare Nick away. He was the best thing that ever happened to Eddie. And having to return to the tedious lonely life of a reformed blutbad after having Nick would be nothing but a slow death with crushing despair and clawing darkness.

When Nick reluctantly arrived downstairs in the kitchen for breakfast, Eddie had scrambled eggs made, and some toast and jam were waiting on the counter. Eddie looked at Nick, a little relieved and a little disappointed that the Grimm at least had the sense not to wander around in a towel. He was wearing a grey t-shirt and comfortable-fit jeans. The overall effect was a relaxed casual look, like Nick was perfectly at ease. Like he belonged in Eddie's home. Like he was perfectly fine living in close quarters with Eddie. Stupid Grimm. Eddie wished he could be so relaxed.

"Eggs?" Eddie said, offering Nick a plate.

Nick took the plate and smiled. "Thanks, Eddie."

Eddie opened the drawer right next to where he was leaning on the counter and pulled out a fork and handed that to Nick as well. Nick nodded and they ate in an awkward silence for a bit. Eddie wasn't going to bring the shower thing up. Talking about it would be very difficult at best, and he wasn't all that eager to test his control again so soon. The rigorous lifestyle that had armed him with steely control for all these years was flattening like wet paper in the face of this new force.

"Eddie, I-I'm sorry about earlier. I wasn't really thinking about it." Nick said, focusing intently on the yellow squishiness on his plate.

"It's just something I'll have to get used to." Eddie said, studying Nick's posture. Nick was fidgeting, shifting, clearly uneasy with addressing this. "A subtle warning would be helpful, though. That caught me off my guard."

"Warning?" Nick glanced up at him and blushed. "Damn, that's really awkward. I'm sorry for making you go through all this, Eddie, I just want to be sure you're safe."

"It's fine. You're worth it." Eddie said with certainty. It might have sounded odd, and could be interpreted different ways, but Eddie hadn't screened the comment before he said it.

"I am?" Nick asked. God, if he didn't stop blushing, Eddie was going to have to give him something to blush about.

"Of course. I'd go through more than this to keep you." Eddie's mouth was really not checking with his brain. He hastened to add, "I mean, I haven't had a house guest since...Hap." That thought helped to ground him. Eddie wouldn't let Nick be like Hap. Nick would be absolutely safe here.

"It's been longer than that since I've had a regular friend. You're a lot of important things to me, Nick." _Fuck!_ Even though that wasn't a blaring declaration of love, he could tell from body language that his words had made Nick nervous. "I wanted you to know you aren't just a Grimm ally. You _are_ my friend."

The warm smile that Nick gave him made Eddie soften inside like a marshmallow in a microwave. It would seem his soft spot for Nick was his whole freaking body. That's a big soft weakness. But Nick was definitely worth it.

"I can't say you're my only friend, but as odd as it may sound, I think you have become my closest friend." Nick told him. He seemed to think, and added, "Maybe it doesn't sound so odd. You're the only one who I can tell everything to. Everyone else gets the edited version of things."

"A blutbad being bosom buddies with a Grimm. No, nothing odd there, officer." Eddie joked.

"Does it really matter?" Nick asked quietly. "We aren't defined by our titles or classifications. You're peaceable. So am I. Apparently this is not normal for a Grimm or a blutbad. And so you're not a blutbad. You're Eddie, who happens to be a wieder-blutbad."

"No." Eddie replied in the same subdued tone. "I guess it doesn't matter."

And that admission had him wanting to jump Nick. His hands shook as he took Nick's dishes and put them and his own in the dishwasher. He started loading the other dishes in to try and distract himself. "Help yourself to the toast."

"Fanks." Nick said around a mouthful of toast and strawberry jam. He swallowed and said, "Sorry I didn't wait. I was starving."

"It's fine. How do you expect to stay here if you don't voluntarily get food?" Eddie asked.

A silence stretched between them, and Eddie ran out of dishes to busy himself with. "Have you changed your bandages yet today?" Nick asked him.

"Not yet."

"Come on, I'll grab your kit. You go sit down in the living room." Nick moved towards the first floor bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit, and Eddie moved to the couch.

He was puzzled. Nick smelled good right now, very good, but it was still just normal Nick. Was it normal for humans' arousal to trigger such a strong scent that elicited a very powerful reaction? He knew how blutbaden dealt with their own kind...but not this. This was new.

'Of course it's new!' he scolded himself. 'Even if other blutbaden fell in love with humans, they would be shunned and not keen to speak or educate about it. And no blutbad would have _ever_ fallen in love with a Grimm.'

"I think we'll have to get you a bigger kit soon, just in case." Nick said, bringing it in and sitting close to Eddie on the couch. His thigh was pressed against Eddie's, and Eddie reigned in the sudden urge to slide his hand along that thigh, slide it in and up. Would Nick's breath hitch, or would he groan?

'Dammit, Monroe, keep it together!'

Thankfully, Nick took Eddie's arm that was itching to take mutinous action and rolled up Eddie's sleeve. He cut through the gauze of the old bandage and set it aside. As he gently wiped off the dried blood and sterilized the wound with alcohol wipes, Eddie closed his eyes and focused on how Nick's fingers felt on his arm.

Then he tried desperately to think of something else. While Eddie had a mental panic, Nick started wrapping a new bandage more lightly around the cut. He secured the end with some medical tape and said, "Done. I figured you would want a little more air on it. It's not really bleeding badly, and it will be good for its healing."

"Thanks, Nick." Eddie said. "So, what did you have planned to do today? I know you go back to work tomorrow."

"I figured I'd just spend time with you. So what are you doing?" Nick asked.

'Writhing in horror at the amount of control I need that I don't possess.' Eddie thought. 'Thinking about molesting and sexually assaulting you, right before you kill me to defend yourself, or in possible disgust or outrage.'

Eddie knew that Nick wouldn't do that unless Eddie was really out of control. But Eddie also didn't want to bet on what he'd do to Nick if he lost it. And he'd never want to hurt Nick, nor mentally and emotionally traumatize him.

"I was just going to watch some TV. Not quite up to a lot of vigorous activity." Eddie shrugged.

"Cool." Nick said, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. "Anything in particular?"

"There's a Charlie Chan marathon on TMC that I was going to take a look at." Eddie said, distracted by the fact that Nick had not shifted away from him at all.

"Charlie Chan?" Nick wondered.

"Oh, come on! You're a detective, don't you watch detective movies? Charlie Chan, a Chinese-American detective; started as books, ended as a lot of black and white movies. I find them very interesting." Eddie shrugged. He was doubting that his interest in the movies would surpass his interest about Nick in close proximity, but maybe it would help.

"Well, I guess if nothing else, I'll get a better idea of what you like." Nick said, and he flipped to TMC.

"It's not super-bloody action movies, and that makes it even better for a wieder-blutbad."

"Ah." Nick said. "Is this it?"

Eddie watched for a moment. "Nope. I guess the marathon is on in the afternoon or evening."

"So random TV or different activity?" Nick asked.

This hanging out with Nick thing had felt weird, at first, but now it felt so very right, more right than it should, since the Reapers would have him believe it was wrong. God help him, but Nick made being a wieder-blutbad far more rewarding than it had been before.

"Maybe since you're staying a while, you could come grocery shopping with me." Eddie suggested. They hadn't discussed the length of Nick's stay, but Eddie was assuming indefinitely.

"Sure." Nick said with an easy smile. Then he paused for thought. "Is there anything I should know about grocery shopping with you?"

Eddie sighed. "Nick, you're an idiot. You're over-thinking this. It's no big deal, I can even walk through the meat section, usually, because that stuff is usually well-packaged."

"And if it's an unusual day?" Nick wondered.

"Well, today I'll have my own personal Grimm to keep me in line. In a non-lethal way, of course."

"Of course." Nick agreed amiably.

(-)

Nick lightly kicked the door shut behind him as he followed Eddie in with their groceries. "That lady in front of us was really stupid. And irate." the Grimm said, making his way with the bags into the kitchen.

"How many times did the cashier explain?" Eddie asked.

"At least four. The sign by the grapes said $1.87 per pound. Not per bag. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be human." Nick opined with a sigh.

"I would be too." Eddie agreed.

They started putting the groceries away, and Eddie couldn't stop thinking how everything was so easy with Nick. While simultaneously being frustrating and impossible. Living with him felt easy, discounting having to fight off the urges he got to pin Nick to various surfaces and do a number of very nice things to him.

The wolfish part of his nature was starting to indicate some unsettling things regarding his feelings towards Nick. He didn't just want to fuck the Grimm; his need went deeper than that. He wanted to make Nick his mate. But how the _hell_ would a blutbad mate a Grimm? That just wasn't how things were!

Eddie glanced at Nick as he stretched to put some pasta on a high shelf in the pantry. He needed to figure these things out before he snapped. "Hey, I think I'm going to go on a run before dinner."

(-)

**This last part is a rewrite, taking the third chapter in an entirely different direction. I hope this helps to fix the feelings I was having that this chapter went wrong, and it mostly has. Thanks to my reviewers who helped me figure it out and fix it. ^_^**


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